1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information handling systems and more particularly to a split read only memory (ROM) architecture for storage option ROMs to reduce power on self test (POST) time.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Known information handing systems may include one or more peripheral devices such as component interconnect (PCI) type devices including PCI express PCI(e) type devices. The PCI devices may include both embedded devices and plug-in devices. Other types of peripheral devices include redundant array of independent disks (RAID) type devices as well as small computer system interface (SCSI) type devices. The SCSI type devices may include serial attached SCSI (SAS) type devices.
An issue relating to known information handling systems is the time that is required for the information handling system to initialize (i.e., to boot up) when powered on or reset.
Depending on the types and number of peripheral devices present in the system, each system reboot can use a significantly long time to initialize. One significant contributor to the time for system reboot is the execution of option read only memories (ROMs) present in the each plug in device and in the system basic input output system (BIOS). In known information handling systems, the system BOIS option ROM is a single monolithic device.
Known information handling systems may require up to three to four minutes to boot when RAID type cards to which multiple drives are attached are included within the information handling system. Even for a basic SCSI/SAS card, the option ROM can require from 30 seconds to two minutes to execute if drives are connected to the cards. In known information handling systems, a reboot without any option ROM usually takes about 30 seconds to complete. Therefore, the onboard storage option ROMs execution can occupy half or more of the time required for a power on self test (POST).
Known storage drives have a spin-up period when starting from a cold boot. When booting the information handling system, a drive detection algorithm in the option ROM waits for these devices to spin-up before the storage drive can be properly identified by the drive detection algorithm. In known systems, the spin-up time is a function of the individual device and its associated option ROM. This spin-up time is not controlled by the system BIOS. Accordingly, when booting known information handling systems a large amount of the time used for booting up the system is consumed by the storage option ROMs waiting for a response from the storage devices.